Tom Painting
For the most part
Mother turned ninety today and mentioned the good fortune of having all six of her children alive and well. She didn’t account for her first pregnancy at seventeen that ended in miscarriage. All in our sixties, we sport an array of ailments: gout, worn joints, Raynaud’s syndrome, Crohn’s disease, bleeding ulcers. Several have sought therapy for the trials and tribulations brought about by failed relationships and kids gone awry. Still, when considering the odds with a mix of military service during the Vietnam War, muscle cars, Woodstock, and living in a bungalow with mother who chain-smoked two packs of Winstons a day, we’ve made out remarkably well.
deep winter a sapsucker chisels away
About the Author
Tom Painting teaches junior high at the Paideia School in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 2000, his students have had winning haiku in the Nicholas Virgilio Memorial Haiku Contest. His own work has been widely published and anthologized.
Really enjoyed this one. Themes of ageing and survival. Love the way the haiku links and shifts keeping to the theme of time pasing.
Wow! Wow! Survival! Lovely.
‘Chisels’ is a memorable word choice!
Hi Tom,https://www.google.com/search?q=somers+weather&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
I enjoyed this. As parents, we teach, we hope, we pray, we try to show a good example. Parenting is part care , part luck. I’m sure I only know half of what they did growing up, but the half I know is pretty good. We can’t control everything. I marvel at my grown children and see in their children the same lessons taught And feel blessed.
Adelaide